Mexican Holidays Fuel Mobility
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Mexican Holidays Fuel Mobility

Photo by:   Eneas, Flickr
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Jorge Ramos Zwanziger By Jorge Ramos Zwanziger | Junior Journalist and Industry Analyst - Fri, 01/08/2021 - 14:05

Last month, the Mexico City government enforced a red-light status according to its traffic-light system to disincentivize people from moving inside the metropolitan area. Did the red light stop mobility? Despite restrictions, it seems as though contagion numbers are on the rise. Mexico reached record contagion numbers of COVID-19 in the first week of 2021. On Jan. 6 alone, the Ministry of Health registered 13,345 new cases of infection, reports Expansión Política. Yesterday, the Ministry of Health published a statement saying that in Mexico, a total of 1,493,569 cases and 131,031 deaths have been confirmed due to COVID-19. Also, according to Jan. 7’s info, 62,168 active cases were registered (from Dec. 25, 2020, to Jan. 7, 2021).

Ricardo Cortés-Alcalá, Director of Promotion of Health recognized that this was a concern many had not just in Mexico but worldwide. The winter season, he says, is known as the season of influenza, when it is common for contagions of different diseases to occur, reported Expansión Política. December is a month when people do a lot of family gatherings in Mexico because of the holidays. “The most likely thing is that the rebounds that we are seeing, these new people who have been infected and those who have unfortunately also lost their lives, reflect what has been happening over the past two weeks. People are gathering for celebrations and that increases the risk of contagion, especially in a closed space without ventilation," Cortés-Alcalá said, reports Expansión Política.

As of Jan. 7, there are five states in Mexico with over 70 percent hospital bed occupancy: Mexico City with 88.92 percent, Guanajuato with 82.62 percent, the State of Mexico with 81.86 percent, Nuevo Leon with 77.88 percent and Hidalgo with 76.38 percent, reports IRAG Network Information System.

Google published a mobility report on Mexico to see the variation in the number of visits to certain places, such as supermarkets and parks, in each geographic region. The country’s mobility, as a whole, has decreased in most categories: leisure, parks, transportation services, workplaces. However, there have been increases in supermarkets and residential areas. When it comes to the metropolitan area, both the State of Mexico and Mexico City saw a significant decrease in mobility when the red-light status was announced. However, there has been a small increase over the past few weeks in the six categories. Both states recently announced that the red-light status will continue until Jan. 17.

 

Photo by:   Eneas, Flickr

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